Outline: a typical early sauropodomorph
Pampadromaeus
"Pampas runner"
Type species Pampadromaeus barberenai
- Lived
- 237 to 227 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Group
- Early sauropodomorphs, Saturnaliidae
- Found in
- Brazil
- Named by
- Cabreira et al. 2011
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
230 million years ago
Field notes
About Pampadromaeus
What it was like
Pampadromaeus was a small, early relative of the giant sauropods. It walked on two long legs and had a small head with leaf-shaped teeth at the back and pointed teeth at the front, which suggests it ate a mix of plants and small animals.
Its world
It lived in the Late Triassic in what is now Brazil. Its bones come from the Santa Maria Formation, one of the richest sources of early dinosaurs, where it lived alongside Saturnalia, Buriolestes and the predator Staurikosaurus.
How it was found
Cabreira and colleagues named it in 2011. The type species is Pampadromaeus barberenai.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Saturnaliidae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: S. F. Cabreira, C. L. Schultz, and J. S. Bittencourt, M. B. Soares, D. C. Fortier, L. R. Silva, M. C. Langer. 2011. New stem-sauropodomorph (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Triassic of Brazil. Naturwissenschaften 98(12):1035-1040